A Meerkat Cafe... Now thats awesome!

Pet cafes in Tokyo are my new favorite thing! Today’s new friends are meerkats. Lion King’s Timon in real life is sooo cute!

I was a little late for the Olympics

My original plan was to go to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics. Obviously Covid ruined that, so it took me till now and all I could do was go to the Japan Olympic Museum and learn about the handful of times they have hosted or attempted to host the Summer and Winter Olympics. Interestingly they also had planned to host in 1940, but that also was cancelled due to the World War 2. But they have hosted a couple of other times too.

Watching A World Cup Qualifier Match in Tokyo

Things you already know about me. I love to travel to dig deeper and learn more about different countries and their people. I love watching World Cup soccer. And I have been to North Korea! Plus this trip to Japan was originally planned for the 2020 Olympics. So imagine how perfect it felt when I was checking out the Olympic Stadium and grounds and saw a poster announcing a FIFA World Cup qualifying match between Japan and North Korea! 

I forgot to add that the friend I’m visiting here ALSO went to North Korea with me! Naturally it was our destiny to go!!! Highlights include hearing a stadium sing the national anthem and watching the incredible enthusiasm of the North Korean fan squad. Japan won 1-0. Bring on World Cup 2026 in North America!!!

The Japanese love baseball so I thought I'd join them.

Take me out to the ball game, take me out with the crowd (of Japanese.) Apparently the Japanese love baseball like Americans do, so seeing a game seemed like a great way to see locals being locals. They have cheerleaders, lots of songs that everyone sings together, a sushi race between innings to entertain the crowd and more. Go Tokyo Giants!

Visiting Gotokuji Temple

Yesterday I visited a cutest cat temple. I’ve seen these little statues so many times in my life. It’s fun to know where they originated.

Gotokuji Temple, located inTokyo, is a Buddhist temple that is said to be the birthplace of the maneki-neko, or “luck-inviting cat figurine.”

Temple legend states that during the early 17th century, Ii Naotaka (then the second lord of the Omi-Hikone Domain) escaped from being caught in a sudden thunderstorm after being invited inside the temple by a cat that lived there.

To show his gratitude to the cat, Naotaka decided to dedicate the temple to the Ii clan.

Who needs cat cafes if you can cuddle mini pigs instead?

I’m off on another adventure and I’m finally visiting Japan for my first time. The Japanese came up with the concept of cat cafes and have been expanding the idea ever since. In Tokyo, there are ones for all kinds of animals, reptiles and even birds. Today I went to mipig cafe, a micro pig cafe. I had a cup of coffee and lots of cuddles from a room full of miniature pigs. It was delightful. And any girl’s dream after reading Charlotte’s Web or seeing Babe.

Spending the Holidays in Ecuador

My new tradition is discover a new places over the world and learn how others celebrate. This time I headed to Ecuador for two weeks. Why Ecuador, you might ask? Well, first off, my parents went to Cuenca, Ecuador years ago and couldn't stop talking about it, so its always been on my bucket list.  

Then I moved to Jackson Heights, Queens, a neighborhood full of Ecuadorians. And now, the height of the latest migrant crisis, new Ecuadorians are arriving every day, which made me want to learn more.  I'm an experiential learner and travel helps me soak in the reality of what is going on way better than just reading the news. This time my timing was impeccable. I went, I learned and I got on a plane home and then the day after I got home the gangs and narco traffic issues that have been simmering under the surface for a few years in Ecuador, came to a head and big news from the country made it into US mainstream press, making many people check in on me. Yup, I was fine in NY and the danger junkie side of me wished I was still there seeing first hand while the military cracks down and hopefully begins to stabilize the country.

Lastly I went to Ecuador because I have gotten close to an Ecuadorian family and even was named god mother of their two daughters. This family is deeply involved in a Ecuadorian cultural center and I attend dances and ceremonies and have learned so much about the culture. I had to experience it in real life.

Photos from Ecuador

 Click HERE to see my photos from Ecuador

Quito, the Capitol City

Quito. Ecuador’s capitol city is the highest altitude capitol in the world, now that La Paz is no longer the capitol of Bolivia. It’s perched in the mountains which makes for dramatic landscapes. The Old City is BEAUTIFUL. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and is well preserved. As with all cities, I liked looking at the diversity of faces and the intense buzz of activity. I joined the masses riding the brand new subway that opened in early December and quickly moved around town.

Cuenca

The news today about Ecuador is grim. The flow of drugs to America has destroyed many countries and Ecuador is one of the latest to fall victim to its ravages. I feel sad. It’s a sweet little very beautiful culturally rich country. I hope this is just a blip in their history.

Now back to posting happy pretty pictures which accurately depict my experience. It’s weird how tourism can be largely unaffected by the harsh reality locals live under.

Cuenca is Ecuador’s most beautiful city. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage City towards the southern end of the country up in the highlands. It took us 8 hours on beautiful, mountainous, winding roads to get there at times driving through total cloud cover.

I have wanted to go since my parents visited about 20 years ago. Also, since I try to visit where immigrants I know are from, the first Ecuadorians I knew from Port Chester, all came from around Cuenca.

Cuenca has unusual architecture or at least unusual to me. I’m not sure I fully captured it, but you will see some of the details and colors here.

Cuenca is also where the famous Panama Hats are made. Originally a hat maker produced hats for the workers digging the canal, then the hats were mistakenly named and Ecuador gets no credit for their beautiful products.

Churches in Ecuador

Churches are some of the most prominent, ornate and impressive buildings in Ecuador. When the Spanish Empire defeated the Incas in the early 1500s, they began to spread Catholicism throughout the indigenous communities. They built churches on top of Incan structures to erase the past and solidify power. Today you can see the original bases of the Incan buildings and Spanish churches rising out of them. These days Ecuador is over 90% Catholic, but many indigenous religious traditions continue intermixed.

The Spanish used religion to control the people. There was even a point in history only Catholics could become Ecuadorian citizens and get enjoy government benefits. While that has changed Catholic traditions are deeply mixed in daily life.

I always look at the opulence and gold and think about in Colonial times it was built to wow people into believing in Catholicism and submitting to Spanish control and honestly, it works on me. My heart skipped a beat in some of them. The beauty is awe inspiring. In Ecuador I was very impressed by elaborate wood carving that covered entire churches, much of it plated with gold. Others churches had intricate designs painted on their walls. Photos were not allowed in the most famous/important ones, but you’ll get the idea.

The churches in this post are from various places around the country.

Three Kings Day in Quito

Can you spot the three kings in this sea of nuns? It’s the 12th day of Christmas, Three Kings Day. I got sucked into the side chapel of the Church and Convent of St. Francis lured by a beautiful spirited children’s choir. Seems like a good day to work on my God is on your side points and a very good crowd to do it with. I stayed an extra day in Ecuador hoping for fun local celebrations. I found none but this was a pretty close second.

Ecuador

Ecuador is a small country, about the size of the state of Colorado. We spent many hours driving through its dramatic landscapes through the Andean Mountain Range. I love looking out the window and soaking it all in. On New Year’s Day we were also lucky to pass through a few local indigenous towns who were holding fun parades and some interesting different roadside food vendors. I’m not sure I captured just how amazing the landscape is. It’s hard in a moving vehicle. I’d like to recommend to the Ecuadorian government that they need more scenic overlooks, so I can get more pics next time!

Visiting the Amazon

One stop on my trip was at a homestay in the Amazon near Tena. We got to see the jungle and learn about indigenous culture from our host family.

The most exciting thing I did was climb a waterfall. There was lots of support and ropes and I’m proud of my first (and possibly last) moments of rock climbing.

We also got to make chocolate! One of Ecuador’s more recent economic success stories is that instead of just growing and harvesting cocoa beans, the country has begun to process and produce the finished product making a more valuable export.

One thing you may not know is that Ecuador’s largest export is petroleum and till now lots of that oil came from deep in the Amazon. The big news is that in August there was a referendum and 60% voted to stop the oil drilling there. While drilling will still be allowed in other areas of the country, this is a BIG change and it led to interesting conversations about oil production, jobs, trade with China and the surprising success of the indigenous campaign to preserve the rainforest. In grad school I got to meet a number of Ecuadorian indigenous leaders who were in NY to address the UN on this issue. It feels exciting that they are finding success and hopefully it will force better extraction practices elsewhere too.

New Year's Eve Traditions in Ecuador

There are lots of New Year’s Eve traditions in Ecuador and it was fun to observe preparations and join the celebrations.

Here are some of the things that happen.

One of the most popular New Year’s traditions is the burning of a family’s “año viejo” (old year) or monigote. Ecuadorians fill old clothes with sawdust to create these figures that can look like a real person or an imaginary character with the addition of a mask. The monigote figures represent the old year that is burned in a bonfire at the stroke of midnight. Families sometimes create their monigotes to look like hated politicians that they hope will not be around next year. Some monigotes represent more traditional values, relating to religion or a personal meaning created by the family members. Some are purely for fun, such as cartoon characters and superheroes!

The next tradition is to throw a letter into the fire that contains a list of all the things you hope to leave behind in the “old year.” Many people write about any hardships they have had or things that have stressed them out.

Another interesting feature of Ecuador New Years celebrations are the "viudas" (the widows). Every year, men across the country will dress up in drag as widowed women, usually stuffing their clothes with balloons, donning elegant high heels and tiny skirts. Then, they take to the streets and collect money from the cars on the streets. Why are there so many widows? Because the effigies are almost always men, which leaves a lot of women without a husband.

The "Viudas" are very insistent and will block the streets and dance in front of cars until someone pays their toll. They tend to start first thing in the morning of New Year's Eve and continue throughout the day.

Another lighthearted tradition is related to the color of the underwear that you use as the clock passes midnight. Red is predicted to bring you love in the coming year, while Yellow brings prosperity.

Crossing the Equator

 Made it to the Equator. In a way Ecuador feels so far south from NY, but half the world lies south of here!

Otavalo Market

One stop was to the Otavalo Market, the largest market in Ecuador and the largest market of its kind in South America. The Otavalo Market dates back to pre-Incan times when locals bought, sold, and traded woven products, food, and other products in the market. These days the town still fills up on Saturdays with indigenous people from all over, who come to buy and sell. There was some great people watching!

Christmas Eve in Banos

 

In Ecuador, Christmas Eve is the time for celebration. I was in Banos and bumped into this family gathering to process around the town. More and more characters kept arriving and they finally set off.  It felt like a lovely way to honor the holiday.

Travel is my happy place

 

Travel is my happy place - Banos, Ecuador

Farewell 2023

Time keeps moving faster and faster. December flew by so fast I didn't have time to write my Holiday Letter till now! Wow! 2023 was a pretty good year for me, but it sped by feeling more like a month than a year!  I was considering skipping this letter this year, but if I don't force myself to reflect on the past year, I'm afraid it will all just be forgotten and I will speed into 2024.

In short, my life has stabilized after the daily excitement of the Pandemic. I'm still working at NoHo Business Improvement District and enjoying the energy, fashion and trend setting on the streets there. Then I am still living in Jackson Heights, Queens, possibly the most diverse area in the world. Each day I get to travel the world on my way to and from the subway. The incredible differences between NoHo and Jackson Heights are sometimes exhausting for a curious person like me. I have to keep my eyes open to enjoy both areas' richness. In one day, I can see supermodels in haute couture and indigenous women in their traditional dress.

 

I rang in 2023 in Havana, my favorite place. Then I focused a little on visiting the United States. An early visit to Miami, my third, finally showed me the pulse everyone talks about. I went to Houston, for my first time, for their Art Car Parade, which was amazing! Hundreds of decorated cars and another interesting micro culture. I headed to Minneapolis and St. Paul for a conference and made time to visit Prince's home, Paisley Park, George Floyd Square, explore Somali culture and, of course, drive by many lakes. In the summer, I had long weekends in Cape May, NJ and Maine for some beachy vacation charm and then was off to Chicago for the Annual Downtown Association Conference. My stepfather's family was from Chicago, so I've spent a lot of time there and every time I peel off another layer.

Of course, I also did some international travel. First to Bermuda on a cruise, but not just any cruise, a Broadway Cruise, which was definitely the highlight of my year. Some of you can imagine how marvelous it is to fill a cruise ship with Broadway people. Nights by the piano singing songs. Special performances by Kristen Chenoweth, Alan Cumming, Laura Benanti, Randy Rainbow and more... I also ended the year on a South American roll. First to sweet, beautiful Montevideo, Uruguay and dynamic Buenos Aires, along with a special stop at a guacho festival in Argentina in November and then another trip in December to spend the holidays in Ecuador.

 

The toxicity of the world these days definitely troubles me, but I'm trying hard to keep busy and distracted versus letting it get me down. I'm not stupid enough to hope that 2024 will be less toxic, but I'm hoping November Trump will lose again and maybe fade. Fingers crossed. I plan to hit the campaign trail starting later in January to at least try to get better local candidates elected. 

Click the links to see photos and write ups on my blog and Facebook.